Director of TOC documentary fined S$6,500 for working in Singapore without valid work pass & More News Here

SINGAPORE — A British man who directed a documentary in regards to the now-defunct The Online Citizen web site was fined S$6,500 on Tuesday (May 17) for doing freelance information manufacturing work in Singapore without a valid work pass. 

Stuart Calum Arthur Alistair, 36, pleaded responsible to 1 cost underneath the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. In 2016, he was working for information company Thomson Reuters Asia, now generally known as Refinitiv Asia, whereas on a long-term social go to pass.

Another rely underneath the Act was considered for working with a media skilled to have his articles posted on Yahoo News Singapore for a price.

For partaking Stuart’s providers, Refinitiv Asia, a monetary markets information supplier, was fined S$5,500 on Tuesday.

Muhammad Firdianshah Salimat, a 30-year-old former founding companion of on-line publishing agency Popspoken, was fined S$4,000.

Stuart is the husband of activist and freelance journalist Kirsten Han.

WORK WITH YAHOO 

The court docket heard that on May 26 in 2015, Firdianshah signed an settlement with Yahoo Asia Pacific to supply three to 5 authentic items of writing each weekday referring to basic information, present occasions or developments, or different matters.

Principal Prosecuting Officer Houston Johannus from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) stated that these articles would then be revealed on Yahoo News Singapore and Firdianshah can be paid S$150 for each revealed article.

At the time, Firdianshah was already not a registered companion of Popspoken however was serving to the agency deal with editorial works, enterprise improvement alternatives and different operations.

The prosecutor stated that after Popspoken was struck off from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority on Jan 20 in 2015, Firdianshah continued to be concerned in liaising with freelance writers for on-line publications.

Around the identical time Firdianshah signed the settlement with Yahoo Asia Pacific, he received to know Stuart via Ms Han, whom Stuart reportedly met whereas she was learning for a postgraduate diploma in the United Kingdom.

Needing a author to fulfil the settlement with Yahoo, Firdianshah provided Stuart a job as a contract author.

During the negotiation course of, Stuart highlighted the matter of needing approval from the Government earlier than beginning work however Firdianshah selected to interact Stuart though he didn’t have a valid work pass, Mr Johannus stated.

On June 27 that yr, Firdianshah signed an settlement with Stuart to supply him with three to 5 authentic items of writing each weekday, which he would then undergo Yahoo for consideration.

For each revealed article, he would pay Stuart S$100 and take a reduce of S$50. Firdianshah can be the individual in cost of vetting each article submitted by Stuart.

Between June and August 2015, Stuart wrote seven information articles that have been revealed by Yahoo, most of which have been centred round Singapore’s present affairs.

Stuart was paid S$700 in complete and Firdianshah acquired S$350. 

WORK WITH THOMSON REUTERS

Sometime in August 2015, Thomson Reuters Asia provided Stuart a place as an assistant producer the place he can be paid S$4,500 a month for video manufacturing providers.

Stuart took up the supply however didn’t signal the employment contract ready by Thomson Reuters Asia, Mr Johannus stated.

The information company later utilized for an employment pass on behalf of Stuart however the utility was rejected.

It then utilized for a letter of consent, which might enable long-term go to pass holders who’re spouses of a Singaporean or everlasting resident to work right here. This was later rejected. 

On Nov 25 in 2015, whereas ready for the letter of consent to be accepted, Thomson Reuters Asia provided Stuart some freelance tv and video manufacturing work the place he can be paid the identical sum of S$4,500 a month.

Mr Johannus stated: “(Stuart) agreed to the subsequent freelance offer, despite knowing that he was then on a long-term social visit pass, which prohibited him from engaging in any trade, vocation or profession without a valid work pass.”

Thomson Reuters Asia, likewise, was conscious that Stuart didn’t have a valid work pass, he added.

Stuart labored for Thomson Reuters Asia without a valid work pass from Nov 25, 2015 to July 8, 2016, throughout which he earned a complete of S$30,375.

Mr Johannus stated that investigations started after MOM acquired details about the violation on Sept 30, 2019. 

Stuart held a long-term social go to pass from Nov 19, 2015 to March 18, 2019. He is now on a short-term social go to pass.

In 2019, he directed An Online Citizen, a 25-minute documentary on The Online Citizen, a socio-political web site. It premiered on the Freedom Film Fest 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

For being a self-employed foreigner without a valid work pass, Stuart may have been fined as much as S$20,000 or jailed as much as two years, or each.

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